A former FBI Special Agent was sentenced on Wednesday to two years probation and fined $18,000 for hiring illegal immigrants to work at a deli, Dallas U.S. Attorney James Jacks announced.
Ann Cox operated a Schlotzsky’s Deli in Rockwall, Tex., from at least August 1997 to December 2008. During that time, she hired and employed six illegal immigrants, with the knowledge that they were neither admitted for permanent residence in the United States nor authorized to be employed, according to Jacks.
Cox pleaded guilty in September to unlawfully employing immigrants.
Deputy Criminal Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Guess and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert H. Dunikoski III handled the prosecution.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert E. Casey Jr. said, “When FBI internal security procedures first detected the possibility that former Special Agent Cox may have committed this crime, I immediately referred this matter to our headquarters in Washington, D.C. Pursuant to established procedures within the Department of Justice, an investigation was then conducted by the Department of Justice, Office of Inspector General and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with the full cooperation of the FBI. While it is disappointing that an FBI Special Agent chose to break the law, it is important for citizens to understand that the FBI has an unwavering commitment to take appropriate action when transgressions are committed by its employees, the overwhelming majority of whom are above reproach in their professional and personal conduct.”
This story has been updated.
Lawyers for former lobbyist Kevin Ring asked a federal judge on Wednesday to set aside the ex-influence peddler’s conviction on conspiracy, providing illegal gratuities and honest services wire fraud charges.
Kevin Ring (Getty Images)
Ring’s defense wrote in a motion to acquit submitted to U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Huvelle in D.C. that the former lobbyist’s Nov. 15 conviction contains “speculative, outlier verdicts.” Ring, a former colleague of convicted ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, was accused of offering meals and free event tickets to 11 public officials in exchange for earmarks and other “official actions.” His first trial in 2009 ended in a hung jury.
“There is no legitimate or rational basis for these verdicts, which find no support in the evidence,” Ring’s lawyers wrote in a court filing. “They can be explained by juror susceptibility to rampant witness speculation, the unpopularity of our system of campaign financing and legal lobbying, and repeated efforts to minimize what it was the government needed to prove.”
Ring’s lawyers also filed a motion for a new trial if the ex-influence peddler isn’t acquitted. He is represented by Andrew T. Wise and Timothy P. O’Toole, members at the law firm of Miller & Chevalier Chartered in D.C.
Justice Department spokeswoman Laura Sweeney told Main Justice that the verdict in the case “speaks for itself.” She said prosecutors will respond to the motions in court by Jan. 15.
In November, DOJ officials lauded Ring’s conviction, which came in the wake of the Skilling v. United States decision by the Supreme Court in July. The ruling severely limited how prosecutors can use the honest services fraud statute.
The Supreme Court ruled that prosecutors must limit the use of the honest services law to strict cases of kickbacks and bribery. Prosecutors previously had a more liberal view of the statute, with some claiming they used the law as a “catch-all” tool to prosecute white collar crimes.
With the more restrictive conditions, prosecutors were forced to prove that Ring and the public officials he interacted with violated their “lawful duty” to the public. Prosecutors argued at trial that Ring and the other lobbyists at his firm had an explicit deal that they would give contributions to members of Congress in exchange for official actions. Ring’s defense said the former lobbyist was skilled at his work, and did not use illegal techniques on behalf of his clients.
The jury ultimately agreed with prosecutors, finding that gifts Ring provided to Robert Coughlin, a former Justice Department official; John Albaugh, the former chief of staff to Rep. Ernest Istook (R-Okla.), a former senior member of the House Appropriations Committee; and former Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.), broke the law. He was acquitted on three other charges.
Tim Griffin (Tim Griffin for Congress)
Tom Marino (Tom Marino for Congress)
Two former U.S. Attorneys will join the House Judiciary Committee when the 112th Congress convenes next month.
Tim Griffin, from the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Tom Marino, from the Middle District of Pennsylvania, are both Republican freshmen.
Griffin took the helm of the U.S. Attorney’s office after the administration of President George W. Bush forced out former Little Rock U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins during the 2006 U.S. Attorney purge. Griffin was an aide to former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove before he became interim U.S. Attorney, and his installation in the post was widely viewed as an attempt by Rove to help his aide burnish his resume in a quest for higher office – which Griffin has now succeeded in obtaining.
Griffin will now sit alongside outgoing chairman Rep. John Conyers (Mich.) and other Judiciary Democrats who investigated the firings, which led to the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales amid allegations from Democrats that he wasn’t telling the truth about the apparent politicization of the federal prosecuting jobs.
Marino served as the Scranton-based U.S. Attorney from 2002 to 2007.
Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday said he hopes he will have a respectful dialogue with Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) on Justice Department matters while the congressman holds the gavel to the House Judiciary Committee.
Lamar Smith and Eric Holder (Main Justice)
Holder said that despite their differences, he has “a pretty good relationship” with Smith, who will replace Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) as House Judiciary Committee chairman in January. Smith, currently the top Republican on the panel, has butted heads often with the Attorney General over key law enforcement matters, including national security issues.
“I hope that we’ll have a chance to focus on things … that are not going to be politically attractive, but will be of substance and things that have an impact on the day to day lives of the American people,” Holder said at an unrelated news conference on civil lawsuits stemming from the BP oil spill.
The incoming chairman said that efforts to enforce immigration laws, reform the patent system, fight child sexual exploitation, combat lawsuit abuse and improve national security are at the top of his agenda.
Smith has been particularly critical of Holder’s support for the reading of constitutional Miranda warnings to terrorism suspects and his now-withdrawn decision to try self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and alleged accomplices in a New York federal court. The Barack Obama administration is now considering the use of military commissions as an option for the prosecutions of those Guantanamo Bay detainees after Republicans and Democrats raised concerns about Holder’s initial proposal.
The incoming chairman and his Republican colleagues have stepped up their attacks on the Attorney General’s support for using civilian courts to prosecute some terrorism suspects after a federal jury’s acquittal last month of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Guantanamo Bay detainee, on all but one count in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Africa.
The House, which is still under Democratic control, last week passed legislation that would ban the Obama administration from prosecuting Guantanamo Bay detainees in civilian courts until Sept. 30. The provision was part of a must-pass continuing resolution to fund the government in the current fiscal year, since Congress has not approved regular appropriations bills. The full Senate has yet to consider the legislation.
Smith has also expressed concerns about the DOJ’s handling of a controversial voter intimidation case involving members of the New Black Panther Party. But he has not indicated whether his committee will look into the issue next year.
A Fox News producer asked Holder on Wednesday if he was referring to the New Black Panther Party case, when he described the type of work he hopes to see from House Judiciary Committee.
Holder – who was accused by conservatives in the Black Panther case of having a policy of not pursuing civil rights cases when whites are the victims — mouthed some inaudible words in response to the Fox News reporter as he headed out the door from the news conference.
Marc O. Litt, who was one of the lead prosecutors in the Bernard Madoff case, is leaving the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office.
Litt, an Assistant U.S. Attorney who worked in the office for eight years, will join Baker & McKenzie LLP, the Wall Street Journal reported. He had stopped working on the Madoff probe in May to avoid conflicts during his job search, the Journal reported.
Marc Litt (Getty)
Litt and fellow Madoff prosecutor Lisa Baroni were often out-gunned in the sprawling probe of Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme. They labored to sift through what the Associated Press called a “massive blob of amorphous evidence,” and went up against lawyers from seemingly every high-priced law firm in New York. Their offices were shabby, and they didn’t have an army of assistants.
While Madoff is behind bars and several employees of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC are under indictment or have pleaded guilty, prosecutors haven’t succeeded yet in bringing criminal charges against any of the allegedly most culpable big fish.
Instead, attention has been on the court-appointed bankruptcy trustee Irving Picard of Baker & Hostetler LLP, who has filed a blizzard of civil lawsuits to recover funds for the victims.
He’s made allegations against the banks (UBS, HSBC, J.P. Morgan Chase and other institutions) that he says helped funnel investors into the scheme or turned a blind eye.
He’s all but accused other wealthy individuals of being partners in the Madoff crime. (“In Sonja Kohn, Madoff found a criminal soul mate, whose greed and dishonest inventiveness equaled his own,” says a complaint against the Austrian banker whom Picard said received at least $62 million, and probably “far more,” from the Ponzi scheme.)
And Picard has been trying for more than a year to settle with the estate of Madoff pal Jeffry Picower, who died last year while swimming in his Palm Beach pool after allegedly taking $7 billion from the scheme. (Picower’s long-time personal lawyer is William Zabel, father of SDNY Criminal Chief Richard Zabel, who recused himself from the case).
Criminal cases, with their higher standards of proof, are harder to bring than civil allegations. But none of the alleged major beneficiaries of the scheme as outlined in Picard’s civil lawsuits have been charged.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Julian Moore is now assisting Baroni as lead prosecutor on the case.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2010
REMARKS AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY BY ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER AT THE DEEPWATER HORIZON OIL SPILL CIVIL LAWSUIT ANNOUNCEMENT
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Good afternoon, and thank you all for being here.
I am pleased to be joined by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson; Assistant Attorney General Tony West, who leads the Justice Department’s Civil Division; and Assistant Attorney General Ignacia Moreno, who leads the Environment and Natural Resources Division.
In the wake of the largest oil spill in our nation’s history, Tony and Ignacia helped to lead the Justice Department’s efforts to hold accountable any and all parties found responsible for this disaster. Today, we are here to announce the initial results of our ongoing civil investigation.
This investigation began shortly after April 20th of this year, when an explosion and fire destroyed the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig that was located in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 50 miles from the Mississippi River delta.
This incident claimed the lives of eleven rig workers. It marked the start of a massive oil spill that would take more than three months to contain. And it set off a chain reaction of devastating consequences for the people, the environment, and the economy of the Gulf Coast – a region still struggling to recover from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
While oil spill response efforts were underway, the Department of Justice launched both criminal and civil probes into this matter. We dispatched dozens of top attorneys to the gulf region, and members of the Department’s senior leadership have also made multiple trips to the area. For months, Department lawyers and investigators have been working night and day – and in close coordination with local U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and State Attorneys General.
As a result of this work, today, the United States filed a civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court in New Orleans against nine defendants.
The defendants named in the lawsuit include:
- BP Exploration and Production Inc.;
- Anadarko Exploration & Production LP;
- Anadarko Petroleum Corporation;
- MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC;
- Triton Asset Leasing GMBH;
- Transocean Holdings LLC;
- Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling Inc.;
- Transocean Deepwater Inc.; and
- QBE Underwriting Ltd./Lloyd’s Syndicate 1036.
In the complaint, the United States alleges violations of federal safety and operational regulations, including:
- Failure to take necessary precautions to secure the Macondo Well prior to the April 20th explosion;
- Failure to utilize the safest drilling technology to monitor the well’s condition;
- Failure to maintain continuous surveillance of the well; and
- Failure to utilize and maintain equipment and materials that were available and necessary to ensure the safety and protection of personnel, property, natural resources, and the environment.
We intend to prove that these violations caused or contributed to this massive oil spill, and that the defendants are therefore responsible – under the Oil Pollution Act – for government removal costs, economic losses, and environmental damages.
We are also seeking civil penalties under the Clean Water Act, which prohibits the unauthorized discharge of oil into the nation’s waters. We allege that the defendants named in this lawsuit were in violation of the Act throughout the months that oil was gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. And we intend to hold them fully accountable for their violations of the law.
Over the past year, I have visited the gulf region multiple times. I have seen the devastation that this oil spill caused throughout the region – to individuals and families; to communities and businesses; to coastlines, wetlands, and wildlife.
Even though the spill has been contained – even though it is no longer the focus of round-the-clock news coverage and the subject of front-page headlines – the Department’s focus on investigating this disaster, and preventing future devastation, has not wavered.
While today’s civil action marks a critical step forward, it is not a final step. Both our criminal and civil investigations are continuing. And our work to ensure that the American taxpayers are not forced to bear the costs of restoring the gulf area – and its economy – goes on. As I have said from the beginning, as our investigations continue, we will not hesitate to take whatever steps are necessary to hold accountable those responsible for this spill.
The civil investigation into the Gulf Coast Spill is being handled by the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Department of Interior’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement. I want to thank all these partners for their tremendous efforts.
As our investigations move forward, Justice Department attorneys will continue to work closely with our federal, state, and local partners to get to the bottom of what caused this disaster and to ensure that those responsible are held accountable – and brought to justice.
The American people – and especially the people of the Gulf Coast – deserve nothing less.
Thank you. And, now, I’d like to turn it over to a key leader and partner in this effort, Administrator Lisa Jackson.
# # #
The Justice Department sued nine companies on Wednesday for allegedly violating environmental laws in connection with the Gulf Coast oil spill earlier this year.
The civil lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in New Orleans, seeks damages under the Clean Water Act. In addition, the suit, which does not seek specified damages, also seeks to declare four of the defendants liable under the Oil Pollution Act for all removal costs and damages caused by the spill, including damages to the environment.
The defendants are BP Exploration and Production Inc.; Anadarko Exploration & Production LP and Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (known collectively as “Anadarko Defendants”); MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC; Triton Asset Leasing GMBH, Transocean Holdings LLC, Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling Inc., and Transocean Deepwater Inc. (known collectively as “Transocean Defendants”); and BP’s insurer, QBE Underwriting Ltd./Lloyd’s Syndicate 1036. QBE/Lloyd’s can only be held liable for the amount of insurance policy coverage under the Oil Pollution Act.
Attorney General Eric Holder said at a news conference Wednesday that the DOJ plans to hold the companies “fully accountable” for any violations of the environmental laws.
“Even though the spill has been contained – even though it is no longer the focus of round-the-clock news coverage that we saw and the subject of front-page headlines – the Department’s focus on investigating this disaster, and preventing future devastation, has not wavered,” Holder said. “While today’s civil action marks a critical step forward, it is not a final step.”
Holder said the DOJ continues to investigate potential criminal infractions, in addition to possible civil violations stemming from the spill.
The Attorney General said the criminal probe is “very serious,” but declined to give a timeline on its completion.
“We are moving as quickly as we can,” Holder said. “I think one of the things that I take from what we have done today is an indication of the speed with which we have moved on this.”
Andrew Ramonas contributed reporting.
Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency officials spoke at the White House Forum on Environmental Justice (WhiteHouse.gov)
Assistant Attorney General Ignacia Moreno said Wednesday the Justice Department hasn’t sent enough of its staffers into communities to work one-on-one with people.
Moreno and Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez were among six panelists discussing enforcement and compliance efforts at the White House Forum on Environmental Justice. The panel followed remarks by Attorney General Eric Holder.
During the discussion, Moreno said that although environment justice is “critically important…one of the things we [at DOJ] haven’t done is send our lawyers out in the community to talk one-on-one.” She went on to say that working with residents, local leaders and communities is essential to making strides in environmental justice.
In the future, Moreno continued, “you’re going to be seeing more of our lawyers talking to you” in community settings. She added that it is essential to have career lawyers working with communities to ensure that, once DOJ officials leave an area, there is someone who remains to continue their work.
“We come and go on the political level, but you need to have career people who are always going to be there,” she said. “It’s going to take time, but we have the commitment.”
Another key component to improving environmental justice is getting corporate counsel to be more social responsible, Moreno said. “They need to think about what the needs of the community are,” she said. “They need to be good neighbors.”
Moreno emphasized the collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency, saying, “We are more embedded with our colleagues with EPA than ever before.”
